Sadio Mane said he would “rather lose” than walk out of a football match.
The 33-year-old was speaking on his decision to order his
teammates back on the pitch after an initial walkout during the final of the
2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) against Morocco.
The AFCON final took a dramatic turn late into the game
after the referee awarded a 94th-minute penalty to Morocco. While defending a
corner kick, El Hadji Malick Diouf appeared to have dragged Brahim Diaz to the
ground in the Senegalese area. The incident seemed to have escaped the match
officials until the video assistant referee got involved.
After review, the referee pointed to the spot, and mayhem
ensued from there. The Senegalese players and officials protested the call,
arguing that an earlier goal scored by the team should have stood. There were
pockets of scuffles and heated exchanges around the stadium.
Pape Thiaw, the Senegalese head coach, called his players
off the pitch and into the dugout. The game was on hold for almost 20 minutes.
Then Mane mediated and bade his teammates to return to the
field to continue playing. The team grudgingly returned in time to prevent the
referee from declaring the match as forfeited.
Diaz eventually lost the contentious last-minute penalty
into the palms of Edouard Mendy. The match continued into extra time, and Pape
Gueye scored a thunderous shot to give Senegal their second AFCON title.
Speaking after the match, Mane said the walkout “would be
the worst thing, especially in African football”.
He said that referees making mistakes should not halt a
football match, adding that “we have to give a good image for football”.
“Football is something special, the world was watching, the
world loves football and I think football is a pleasure so we have to give a
good image for football,” Mane said.
“I think it would be crazy to not play this game because
what, the referee gave a penalty and we go out of the game? I think that would
be the worst thing especially in African football. I’d rather lose than this
kind of thing happen to our football. I think it’s really bad.
“Football should not stop for even ten minutes but what can
we do? We have to accept that we did but the good thing is that we came back
and we played the game and what happened happened.”
Mane was named the player of the tournament, while Diaz
claimed the golden boot as the competition’s highest goalscorer with 5 goals,
and Yachine Bounou won the best goalkeeper prize.
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